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AUG  21  1913 


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I A  NEW  PLAN  FOR  DIREQ  NOMINATIONS 

Report  of  Committee  Appointed  by  the  Speakers'  Club  to  Investi- 
gate the  Existing  Provisions  of  the  Election  Law  of  the  State 
of  New  York  Relative  to  Direct  Nominations  and  Primary 
Elections  and  Pending  and   Proposed   Legislation 
thereon,  Submitted  to  the  Club  and  Adopted, 
after  Extended  Debate,  at  the  Dinner  of  the 
Club  held  in  the  Rooms  of  the  New 
York  Press  Club  June  24, 1913 


UNlVEivSJTY 

Communications  relative  to  the  subject  matter  of  the 
Report  are  requested  to  be  sent  to    the  Committe : 

XARENCE  C.  FERRIS,  Chairman,     JAMES  S.  McDONOGH,  Secretary, 
35  Wall  Street,  New  York,  80  Wall  Street,  New  York, 

jCEORGE  P.  H.  McVAY,  HENRY  B.  HAMMOND, 

280  Broadway,  New  York,  51  Chambers  Street,  New  York. 

FRANK  E.  WILLIAMSON,  i  Exchange  Place,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 


) 


THE  SPEAKERS'  CLUB: 

CHAS.  P.  ROBINSON,  President, 

2  Rector  St.,  New  York, 

WM.  H.  SILK,  Secretary, 

240  West  23d  St.,  New  York, 

S.  de  BARRENECHEA,  Treasurer, 

128  Pearl  St.,  New  York. 


I    J|j'«^ 


New  York,  June  24,  19 13. 
To  the  Speakers'  Club: 

Your  Committee,  appointed  at  the  dinner  of  the  club  held  on 
the  fourth  Monday  of  May  to  investigate  the  existing  provisions 
of  the  election  law  in  the  State  of  New  York  relative  to  direct 
nominations  and  primary  elections,  and  pending  and  proposed 
legislation  thereon,  respectfully  reports  as  follows: 

The  Committee  met  on  the  following  Wednesday,  May  28, 
1913,  at  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  County  Lawyers'  Associa- 
tion, No.  165  Broadway,  New  York  City,  at  11  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  and  organized  with  Clarence  C.  Ferris  as  chairman, 
and  James  S.  McDonogh  as  secretary.  After  a  general  discus- 
sion it  was  resolved  that  each  member  of  the  Committee  should 
personally  make  a  study  of  the  existing  law  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  of  pending  and  proposed  legislation.  Various  books, 
pamphlets,  magazines  and  newspaper  articles  relating  to  the 
subject  of  elections,  and  particularly  to  the  subject  of  direct 
nominations  and  primary  elections,  have  been  procured  and  read 
by  the  members  of  the  Committee.  Many  consultations  and  in- 
terviews have  been  had  with  persons  familiar  with  the  subjects, 
and  the  so-called  Blauvelt  and  Sulzer  bills  to  amend  the  election 
law  generally,  the  brief  of  Mr.  Mark  Eisner,  assemblyman  from 
the  Seventeenth  District  of  New  York  County,  and  the  work  of 
Prof.  C.  E.  Merriam  on  primary  elections  have  been  particularly 
studied  by  members  of  the  Committee,  besides  the  pamphlet  is- 
sued under  the  direction  of  Hon.  Norman  E.  Mack  and  others, 
entitled  "The  Truth  about  Direct  Primaries,"  embodying  the 
criticisms  upon  the  so-called  Sulzer  bill  by  Mr.  John  G.  Saxe. 

The  Committee's  investigation  necessarily  took  a  wide  range, 
but  as  its  authority  is  limited  to  an  examination  of  the  subject  of 
direct  nominations  and  primary  elections,  the  Committee  has  en- 
deavored to  confine  its  report  to  that  subject,  although  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  popular  management  of  political  aifairs  in- 
volves not  only  a  consideration  of  the  entire  election  machinery, 
but  of  many  other  subjects  as  well. 

264624 


General  Observations 

The  present  election  law  was,  of  course,  first  considered,  and 
particularly  that  portion  of  it  which  refers  to  primary  elections. 

The  present  and  first  primary  election  law  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  popularly  known  as  the  Levy  Election  Law,  is  chap- 
ter 891  of  the  Laws  of  191 1,  which  went  into  effect  November 
15,  191 1,  and  as  the  majority  in  the  Legislature  at  that  time  was 
of  the  Democratic  party,  it  may  be  assumed  that  it  was  intended 
by  that  party  as  an  effort  to  realize  upon  the  party's  declaration  3 
in  favor  of  a  state-wide  direct  primary  law,  in  accordance  with  J 
the   resolution   for   such   legislation   contained   in   the   platform;; 
adopted  at  the  preceding  Democratic  State  Convention,  which  ^ 
was  that  held  at  Rochester  in  September,   1910 ;  and  notwith- ! 
standing  all  the  criticisms  to  which  this  law  has  been  subjected,  \. 
and  the  admission  by  the  most  conservative   elements   in  the 
Democratic  party  that  it  does  not  meet  the  demands  of  either 
the  voters  or  of  candidates  for  direct  control  of  nominations  by 
the  voters  themselves,  your  Committee  is  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  the  principle  of  direct  control  of  political  affairs  is  recog- 
nized in,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  may  be  enforced  by  the 
provisions  of  that  law,  and  that  the  courage  and  devotion  to 
principle  of  the  persons  who  had  any  part  in  drawing  and  pass- 
ing the  law,  entitle  them  to  have  their  names  placed  upon  a  roll 
of  honor.    We  may  fairly  say  this  preliminary  to  our  own  criti- 
cism of  this  law. 

A  beginning  is  half,  and  in  fact  it  is  much  more  than  half, 
when  a  great  and  fundamental  change  in  the  means  of  political 
action  is  effected.  Magna  Charta  itself  was  not  so  important  in 
the  practical  changes  which  it  brought  about  and  the  political 
rights  which  it  conferred  as  in  the  fact  that  it  was  a  break  with 
the  past,  and  promised  much  for  the  future. 

The  bare  text  of  our  present  election  law,  as  provided  in 
pamphlet  form  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  covers  244  closely 
printed  octavo  pages,  and  practically  to  understand  the  applica- 
tion of  this  law  there  must  be  read  in  connection  with  it  many 
hundreds  of  pages  of  reports  of  the  courts,  and  opinions  of 
the  Attorney-General,  and  the  law  as  a  whole  is  properly  sub- 
ject to  severe  criticism.    That  part  relating  to  primary  elections 


is  the  most  vulnerable  portion  of  the  law.  It  has  proved  to  be 
cumbersome,  and  to  the  voters  generally  unintelligible  and  un- 
interesting. Considerable  portions  of  it  have  been  annulled  by 
the  courts  as  unconstitutional.  It  is  unfair,  both  to  voters  and 
to  candidates.  The  law  affords  cover  to  dishonest  methods.  In 
its  practical  workings  it  induces  corruption  on  the  part  of  the 
rich  candidates,  and  oppresses  the  poor  ones.  It  allows  the 
making  of  party  rules  and  regulations  outside  of  the  law  itself, 
which  have  virtually  worked  to  a  large  extent  an  annulment  of 
the  powers  which  it  was  the  object  of  the  Legislature  to  take 
away  from  political  machines  and  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
voters.  It  is  found  that  these  party  rules  and  regulations  allowed 
by  law  may  be  and  frequently  are  changed  to  suit  the  schemes 
and  emergencies  which  arise  in  party  management,  and  serve 
mainly  to  keep  in  control  of  party  machinery  those  persons  who 
are  fortunate  enough  to  have  secured  party  positions,  making  it 
practically  impossible  for  those  who  are  not  members  of  political 
committees  ever  to  become  such  members,  except  by  grace  of 
those  persons  who  are  already  party  managers. 

The  object  of  laws  for  direct  nominations,  and  for  primary 
elections  is,  of  course,  to  confer  practical  political  power  upon 
all  voters  who  really  desire  it,  and  not  to  leave  it  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  have  already  secured  it,  and  who  naturally  wish  to 
keep  what  it  has  cost  them  so  much  time,  trouble  and  expense 
to  obtain.  When  we  consider  the  great  advantages  which  those 
who  have  already  obtained  political  power  by  securing  party 
positions  and  a  share  in  party  management  now  possess,  we  can 
not  help  but  admire  their  moderation  in  the  maintenance  of  their 
privileges,  and  we  wish  to  repeat  that  the  present  provisions  of 
our  election  law,  conferring  as  they  do  considerable  power  in 
the  making  of  direct  nominations,  and  in  the  control  of  political 
machinery,  are  a  credit  to  the  courage  and  earnest  endeavors 
of  the  politicians  who  succeeded,  in  the  face  of  obstacles  which 
can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  encountered  them,  in 
placing  the  law  upon  the  statute  book.  It  jnust  be  remembered 
that  New  York  State  is  not  what  is  known  as  "a  progressive 
State."  It  is  the  financial  centre  of  the  country,  and  may  rea- 
sonably be  expected  to  be,  and  actually  is,  a  fortress  of  con- 
servatism. 


New  York  is,  however,  reckoned  as  one  of  the  thirty-eight 
States  of  the  Union  which  have  adopted  some  measures  for 
statewide  direct  nominations  and  primary  elections.  The  so- 
called  Levy  Law  is  often  referred  to  as  a  direct  primary  measure, 
but  the  opportunities  for  direct  voting  by  enrolled  party  voters 
are  so  remote  and  so  hedged  in  with  conditions  that  they  are  of 
little  value  to  the  electorate.  The  law  allows  political  committees 
to  continue  and  to  maintain  themselves  in  office  from  year  to 
year,  and  they  are  so  strongly  entrenched  and  protected  by  the 
provisions  of  the  present  law  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  re- 
move them. 

By  the  existing  law  there  is  no  definite  nimiber  of  members 
fixed  for  any  committee.  This  is  all  left  to  party  rules  and  regu- 
lations, which  afford  an  unlimited  opportunity  for  trickery.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  members  of  these  committees  are  selected  by 
the  leaders  in  the  various  districts,  and  the  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committees  are  under  such  obligations  to  their  dis- 
trict leaders  for  favors  rendered  that  they  may  be  considered  as 
mere  pawns  in  the  hands  of  such  leaders.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
law  which  prevents  the  application  of  unit  rules  in  party  caucuses. 
The  members  are  therefore  not  free  in  their  choice  of  candidates, 
and  a  direct  result  of  this  is  that  the  voters  of  the  party  are  pre- 
sented with  candidates  selected  by  those  persons  entrenched  in 
power  as  leaders  largely  by  virtue  of  the  unit-rule  system. 

A  political  party  is  a  peculiar  legal  entity.  It  is  not  a  cor- 
poration, and  it  is  different  in  many  respects  from  any  other 
voluntary  association  of  individuals,  unincorporated,  but  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  organized  for  some  purpose.  The  statu- 
tory definition  of  a  political  party  is  "any  political  organization 
which  at  the  last  preceding  election  for  governor  polled  at  least 
ten  thousand  votes  for  any  candidate  for  any  office  nominated  by 
it  to  be  voted  for  by  all  of  the  electors  of  the  State."  Notwith- 
standing the  legal  indefiniteness  of  the  term  "political  party," 
there  is  practically  no  form  of  organization  better  understood  by 
the  people  generally  than  is  the  political  party.  And  the  reason 
for  this  is  that  political  parties  should  and  do  stand  for  prin- 
ciples. The  people  feel,  and  properly  so,  that  principles  are  more 
important  than  persons;  that  political  theories  are  necessary  to 
proper  political  practice;  that  in  politics,  as  in  everything  else, 


you  must  have  a  plan ;  that  persons  who  may  be  candidates  of  a 
political  party  are  merely  the  agents  to  work  the  plan. 

Upon  consideration  of  the  matter,  one  can  not  help  but  be 
impressed  with  how  definite  the  political  ideas  of  the  voters  gen- 
erally are,  and  how  easily  they  recognize  that  "political  party," 
which  seems  in  its  plan  of  political  action  to  embody  their  own 
political  ideas  as  its  principles. 

Your  Committee  is  impressed  with  the  value  of  political 
parties  as  agencies  for  the  expression  and  maintenance  of  political 
principles,  and  therefore  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  any 
form  of  election  machinery  which  has  a  tendency  to  assist  per- 
sons who  are  politically  ambitious,  rather  than  to  forward  the 
expression  and  ni*^ntenance  of  political  principles,  will,  if  car- 
ried out  to  its  logical  end,  bring  the  people  to  a  condition  of 
political  anarchy,  and  afterwards  to  despotism.  The  political 
party  seems  to  be  absolutely  essential  for  the  assembling  and  en- 
forcement of  certain  definite  political  ideas,  principles  and 
policies. 

The  Party  Paruament  ^ 

As  we  are  concerned  in  this  report  only  with  means  for  the 
procural  of  political  control  for  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  we  have  first  presented  to  our  minds  for  consideration  the 
question,  How  shall  the  certain  ideas,  principles  and  policies, 
which  may  in  a  general  way  be  held  by  a  considerable  body  of 
the  people  of  this  State,  be  assembled  and  formulated  ? — and  our 
conclusion  is  that  such  a  formulation  of  the  principles,  actually 
held  by  a  considerable  number  of  people,  can  only  be  had  by 
bringing  together,  in  a  State  Parliament,  assembled  for  that 
purpose  a  large  and  truly  representative  delegation  of  the  people 
who  appear  in  a  general  way  to  hold  the  same  political  ideas, 
principles  and  policies.  In  other  words,  we  think  a  State  Con- 
vention of  a  party  is  an  absolute  necessity  if  principles  are  to  be 
preferred  to  persons ;  and  that  principles  are  to  be  preferred  to 
persons  in  all  cases  where  any  considerable  number  of  individuals 
is  involved  can  admit  of  no  question.  The  State  Convention 
should  be  regarded  as  the  great  parliament  of  the  party  in  which 
the  principles  of  the  party  can  be  formulated  and  measures  de- 


t 


vised  for  carrying  those  principles  into  political  effect.  There- 
fore, what  is  usually  called  the  platform  is  the  first  consideration 
of  the  party  parliament.  The  platform  is  the  formulation  of  the 
principles  of  the  party.  It  is  of  paramount  importance  that  the 
platform  enunciate  the  principles  of  the  party.  The  individual 
preferences  of  persons  in  the  party  should  for  the  time  being, 
and  for  the  particular  campaign  which  is  in  contemplation,  be 
subjected  to  and  controlled  by  the  principles  enunciated  in  the 
platform.  The  candidates  who  may  be  chosen  for  the  ensuing 
campaign  are  not  the  persons  who  should  formulate  for  them- 
selves, or  have  any  part  in  formulating  after  they  are  nominated, 
what  they  may  choose  to  regard  as  the  principles  of  the  party. 
The  candidates  should  stand  upon  the  platform.  We  therefore 
condemn  as  ill-advised  the  provisions  in  the  so-called  Sulzer  Bill 
for  the  formation  of  a  "Party  Council,"  composed  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  State  Committee  and  the  candidates  for  the  time 
being,  with  power  to  such  committee  and  the  candidates  for  the 
time  being  to  formulate  the  platform  for  the  party.  This  would 
be  preferring  persons  to  principles.  It  is  evident  to  us  that  a 
candidate  possessing  personal  popularity,  or  a  capacity  for  in- 
trigue, might  very  easily  control  the  enunciation  of  the  alleged 
principles  of  the  party  for  the  campaign  for  which  he  is  a  candi- 
date, and  that  as  persons  under  this  system  of  the  party  council 
would  virtually  be  more  important  than  principles,  we  should 
never  get  a  consistent  statement  of  principles  for  an  alleged  party 
for  more  than  one  year  at  a  time,  and  the  only  thing  which 
justifies  the  existence  of  a  political  party,  that  is,  a  body  of  citi- 
zens formed  for  the  clear  statement  and  enforcement  of  political 
principles,  would  cease  to  exist.  We  should  first  arrive  at  a 
position  of  political  anarchy,  and  afterwards,  and  rapidly,  at  one 
of  political  despotism,  brought  about,  as  are  all  despotisms,  by 
the  preference  for  a  person  over  principles. 

Having  therefore  decided  that  a  great  parliament  of  the 
party,  which  may  as  well  be  a  state  convention  as  any  other  as- 
semblage of  the  party  within  the  State,  is  an  absolute  necessity, 
we  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  first  part  in  the  political  ma- 
chinery for  the  accomplishment  of  this  first  great  purpose,  the 
Party  Parliament. 

There  is  one  excellent  feature  of  the  present  election  law. 

6 


That  is,  the  provision  for  enrollment  with  an  existing  party  and 
the  provision  for  enrollment  with  any  new  party  which  may  be 
formed  of  any  voter  who  wishes  to  be  a  member  of  that  party. 
A  voter  wishing  to  enroll  with  a  particular  party  indicates  his 
choice  upon  a  ballot  provided  for  that  purpose  at  the  time  of 
registering  for  the  general  election.  The  general  election  day, 
however,  would  be  a  better  time  for  the  voter  to  select  his  party 
for  the  ensuing  year.  He  has  had  the  benefit  of  the  political 
education  afforded  by  the  campaign,  and  is  in  the  best  position 
to  decide  which  party  will  express  and  enforce  the  political  prin- 
ciples which  he  himself  holds.  The  voter  having  selected  his 
party,  will  next,  in  logical  order,  turn  his  attention  to  the  selec- 
tion of  the  delegates  to  the  party  parliament,  because  it  is  in  the 
party  parliament  that  the  principles  which  he  believes  the  party 
holds,  or  should  hold  must  be  formulated. 

In  the  view  of  your  Committee  the  plan  adopted  for  the 
nomination  and  election  of  delegates  to  the  State  Convention, 
may  be  adapted  to  the  nomination  and  election  of  persons  to  all 
party  positions,  and  to  all  political  offices.  This  plan  obviously 
must  allow  perfect  freedom  of  selection  to  every  person  who  has 
constituted  himself  a  member  of  the  party  by  enrollment  there- 
with. Every  member  of  the  party  should  have  the  opportunity 
to  nominate,  free  from  control  of  others  in  caucuses,  or  the  im- 
portunities of  canvassers  for  names  to  designating  petitions,  such 
persons  as  in  his  judgment  will  best  represent  the  principles  and 
policies  of  the  party  in  the  State  Convention,  and  your  Committee 
is  especially  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  present  law,  the 
Blauvelt  Bill,  the  Sulzer  Bill,  and  all  other  plans  for  direct  nom- 
inations and  direct  primaries,  which  have  been  brought  to  your 
Committee's  attention,  are  radically  wrong,  and  therefore  prac- 
tically deficient  in  their  provisions  for  affording  the  opportunity 
to  the  members  of  a  party  for  free  selection  of  persons  to  party 
positions  and  political  offices. 

Existing  Systems  i^dr  Direct  Nominations 

Practically  the  only  method  which  has  been  adopted  is  that 
of  designation  in  petitions  which  are  circulated  on  behalf  of  in- 
dividual candidates.     Now,  the  circulation  of  any  petition  re- 


quires  the  attention  of  that  particular  ambitious  person  in  whose 
behalf  it  is  circulated.  It  also  requires  money  to  circulate  a 
petition,  and  particularly  here  in  New  York  under  the  existing 
law  is  the  circulating  of  designating  petitions  accompanied  with 
great  expense,  for  every  name  signed  must  be  certified  to  by  an 
officer  qualified  to  take  the  acknowledgment  of  a  deed — a  judge, 
a  mayor  of  a  city,  a  county  clerk  and  certain  other  important 
officers,  a  notary  or  a  commissioner  of  deeds.  It  is,  of  course, 
to  the  two  classes  of  officials  last  named,  the  notaries  and  the 
commissioners  of  deeds,  that  all  the  canvassing  for  signatures — 
and  "canvassing"  it  certainly  is — is  confined.  The  notary  or  com- 
missioner is  under  the  law  at  all  events  entitled  to  his  fee  of  twen- 
ty-five cents  for  every  signature  certified,  but  practically  no  per- 
son will  canvass  for  signatures  unless  he  is  paid  a  much  larger 
sum  for  each  signature  obtained  than  one-quarter  of  a  dollar. 
It  would  not  be  going  far  out  of  the  way  to  affirm  that  every  name 
on  every  designating  or  nominating  petition  which  has  ever  been 
filed  in  the  State  of  New  York  has  cost  some  one  upwards  of  one 
dollar.  So  difficult  is  it  to  obtain  signatures  to  designating  pe- 
titions that  practically  every  such  petition  has  been  subjected  to 
judicial  action  by  striking  out  a  considerable  number  of  the 
names  as  having  been  fraudulently  signed.  In  fact,  the  class 
of  persons  who  have  been  and  can  be  employed  as  notaries  to 
circulate  such  petitions  is  to  a  large  extent  a  disreputable  one.  The 
usual  method  employed  by  candidates  is  to  offer  the  notary  so 
much  money  for  each  signature  obtained.  The  notary  soon  finds 
the  labor  of  obtaining  bona  fide  signatures  so  difficult  that  the 
common  experience  is  that  he  will  resort  to  fraud  and  forgery  in 
filling  up  his  list  with  the  signatures  of  alleged  voters;  will 
obtain  the  money  which  has  been  promised  him  for  the  signatures, 
and  will  then  promptly  disappear  to  avoid  prosecution.  And  it 
is  much  to  be  feared  that  candidates  themselves  have  in  numerous 
instances  winked  at  the  nefarious  practices  of  notaries  in  se- 
curing signatures  to  such  petitions.  Candidates  also  find  them- 
selves in  other  difficulties  with  regard  to  nominating  petitions, 
due  to  the  class  of  notaries  who  are  willing  to  circulate  them.  We 
readily  recall  the  instance  on  Long  Island  where  a  notary  who 
had  procured  a  large  number  of  signatures  to  a  National  Pro- 
gressive Party  petition,  declined  to  surrender  the  petition  until 

8 


his  demand  for  the  payment  of  the  sum  which  he  chose  to  p^ace 
upon  the  value  of  his  services  in  circulating  the  paper  had  been 
satisfied.  In  this  case  the  Supreme  Court  was  able  to  help  out 
the  candidate  and  his  party  by  directing  the  notary  to  file  the 
petition.  Suppose  the  notary,  instead  of  giving  the  Court  this 
opportunity  to  control  his  action,  finding  that  he  could  not  obtain 
the  amount  of  money  which  he  demanded  for  the  petition,  had,  for 
the  purposes  of  revenge,  or  corrupted  by  rival  candidates,  their 
emissaries  or  partisans,  disappeared  with  the  document  on  the 
last  day  which  the  law  allowed  for  filing  ? 

Because  of  the  expense  of  circulating  designating  petitions, 
if  for  no  other  reason — and  there  are  many  other  reasons  against 
the  plan — your  Committee  is  unalterably  opposed  to  any  form  of 
the  designating  petition  which  requires  circulation.  The  expense 
of  circulating  such  petitions,  to  say  nothing  of  other  expenses 
which  are  inherent  in  this  method  of  nomination,  in  the  opinion 
of  your  Committee  fully  justifies  the  assertion  of  ex-President 
Taft,  who  as  professor  at  Yale  in  May  last,  in  a  lecture  on  "Some 
Questions  of  Modern  Government,"  gave  as  a  sufficient  reason 
for  opposing  altogether  primary  election  laws  the  fact  that  they 
will  place  political  power  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  am- 
bitious rich  men. 


A  New  PI.AN  FOR  Direct  Nominations 


/ 


As  in  this  State  we  all  have  equal  political  rights,  whether 
we  possess  a  dollar  or  not,  and  no  one  proposes  to  change  the 
qualifications  for  the  franchise,  except  upon  the  proposition  to 
more  than  double  the  number  of  voters  by  allowing  women  to 
vote,  it  is  obvious  that  the  free  practical  expression  of  political 
ideas  must  be  secured  by  some  system  which  does  not  involve  the 
use  of  money,  except  to  a  very  limited  extent.  It  is  perhaps  true 
that  nothing  can  be  done  without  the  use  of  money. 

The  essentials  of  existing  election  laws  providing  direct  pri- 
maries, so  far  as  this  Committee  has  been  enabled  to  make  an 
analysis  of  the  matter,  involve  three  operations: 

I.  The  designation  of  the  persons  who  shall  be  candidates 
in  the  party  primary. 


2.  The  nomination  in  the  party  primary  of  the  person  who 
shall  be  the  party  candidate. 

3.  The  general  election  to  determine  which  one  of  all  the 
candidates  shall  hold  the  particular  office. 

The  three  words,  designation,  nomination  and  election,  are 
practically  synonyms.  The  use  of  any  one  of  these  words  in  the 
election  law  to  describe  a  particular  act  is  therefore  purely  arbi- 
trary and  technical.  The  present  law  uses  the  word  "designation" 
for  the  first  naming  of  a  person  as  a  candidate.  Mere  differences 
in  nomenclature  are  of  course  of  no  importance.  The  object  of 
the  voter  is,  in  scriptural  phrase,  to  make  his  candidate's  "calling 
and  election  sure." 

It  seemed  to  your  Committee  to  be  more  exact  to  call  the 
first  act  a  nomination;  the  second  a  designation,  leaving  for  the 
third  act  the  election  by  all  the  voters.  After  an  extended  debate 
upon  this  question,  however,  your  Committee  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  it  would  be  best  to  follow  the  terminology  of  the  present 
law,  in  which  the  first  naming  of  a  candidate,  that  is,  in  the 
petition,  is  termed  "designation";  the  second  step,  the  se- 
lection at  the  primary,  is  called  "nomination";  the  third 
act  is  the  general  election.  But  whatever  terminology  may 
be  adopted,  the  mechanics  of  the  matter  are  of  prime  im- 
portance. Everything  depends  upon  them.  To  want  of 
proper  mechanism  of  election,  simple,  direct,  and  adapted  to 
the  use  of  all  the  voters,  is  due  the  lack  of  interest  and  the  failure 
to  take  part  in  practical  politics  by  the  people  generally.  The 
expense  of  engaging  in  politics  is  also  another  reason  why  the 
people  generally  have  not  exercised  their  privileges.  Expense  in- 
cludes both  the  money  necessary  to  put  out,  as  things  have  been, 
and  also  the  loss  of  time,  because  time  is  money.  A  prime  object 
in  the  scheme  of  a  general  election  law,  therefore,  will  be  economy 
of  time  and  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  voting  public;  and  cer- 
tainly, a  way  to  keep  the  mere  Moneybags  from  the  control  of 
politics  is  demanded  by  every  tendency  of  the  times.  The  success 
of  our  general  elections,  with  the  details  managed  by  well  trained 
and  well  paid  bodies  of  specialists  organized  in  boards  of  elections, 
has  been  gratifying.  It  is  commonly  believed,  and  with  much 
reason,  that  vote  buying  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  but  the 
use  of  money  in  securing  nominations,  due  to  the  faulty  machin- 
ery of  our  election  laws,  is  a  crying  evil,  but  in  the  opinion  of  your 

ro 


Committee  it  is  an  evil  which  can  easily  be  eradicated,  and  by 
simply  making  use  of  our  existing  election  boards  as  custodians 
of  primary  records,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  has  yet  been 
done.  Your  Committee  has  devised  a  plan  which  it  believes  will 
be  effective,  and  for  the  present  we  are  keeping  especially  in 
mind  the  election  of  the  delegate  to  the  party  parliament  or  party 
council,  or  whatever  other  name  you  choose  to  give  to  the  great 
convention  of  the  party,  in  other  words,  to  the  State  Conven- 
tion. 

The  Plan  is  this :  An  enrolled  voter  who  desires  to  have  him- 
self or  any  other  qualified  person  nominated  for  the  position  of 
delegate  of  the  party  to  the  State  Convention,  or  other  party 
position,  or  office,  will  go  to  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary 
records,  give  to  such  custodian  or  his  deputy,  the  name,  place 
of  residence,  and  office  for  which  he  desires  a  particular  person 
to  be  designated.  The  custodian  will  enter  the  name,  residence 
and  position  for  which  the  person  is  designated  in  a  book  to  be 
kept  by  him  for  that  purpose.  The  designator  will  then  subscribe 
his  name  in  the  book  to  the  designation  which  he  has  made. 
The  custodian  of  primary  records  will  have  the  right  to  make 
such  inquiries  as  to  the  identity  and  qualifications  of  the  desig- 
nator as  may  be  necessary,  and  to  take  the  proper  affidavit  from 
him.  A  reference  to  the  original  or  printed  enrollment  of  the 
party  will  show  the  custodian  at  once  whether  there  is  such  a 
qualified  designator.  The  designator's  identity  will  be  established 
by  his  own  signature.  Further  proof  of  his  identity  may  under 
reasonable  regulations  to  be  prescribed  by  statute  be  required  by 
the  custodian.  The  books  can  of  course  be  arranged  to  suit  the 
requirements  of  the  situation.  The  oath  and  form  of  certification 
of  all  names  can  be  printed  once  for  all  on  the  first  page  of  the 
book.  One  or  more  books  can  be  kept  for  the  purpose,  as  the 
custodian  of  primary  records  may  find  necessary  or  best  adapted 
to  the  purpose.  All  the  books  will  of  course  be  public  records  and 
open  under  reasonable  regulations,  and  for  such  time  as  may  be 
necessary,  to  all  persons.  It  might  be  well,  where  the  number 
of  voters  is  not  large,  to  have  only  one  designating  book,  in 
which  every  designator  of  every  party  shall  make  his  designation 
seriatim.  This  would  tend  to  prevent  forgeries  by  transposition 
and   omission,   and   in   other   ways   not   depending   upon   mere 

II 


erasure,  and  this  book  system  fn  any  event  will  fender  practically 
impossible  forgeries  by  erasure  and  substitution. 

No  person  shall  offer  any  designator  any  sum  of  money 
or  other  valuable  thing,  or  promise  him  any  office  or  reward 
v^rhatsoever  for  a  designation.  The  designator  shall  pay  his  own 
travelling  expenses  to  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary  rec- 
ords. 

The  number  of  designations  required  in  order  that  the  per- 
son designated  shall  be  entitled  to  be  voted  for  at  the  primary 
election  is  simply  a  matter  of  policy,  but  at  all  events  it  should 
be  a  small  number. 

Your  Committee  suggests  that  for  the  office  of  alderman  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  twenty  designations  shall  be  required  and 
twenty-five  allowed;  for  assembyman,  twenty-five  shall  be  re- 
quired, and  thirty  allowed;  for  State  senator,  seventy-five  shall 
be  required  and  eighty-five  allowed ;  for  justice  of  the  Municipal 
Court,  seventy-five  shall  be  required,  and  eighty-five  allowed ;  for 
borough  president,  one  hundred  shall  be  required  and  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  allowed ;  for  justice  of  the  City  Court,  two  hundred 
shall  be  required  and  two  hundred  and  twenty  allowed,  and  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  two  hundred  and  fifty  shall  be  re- 
quired and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  allowed. 

The  reason  for  limiting  the  number  of  designations  which 
may  be  made  is  to  prevent  designating  campaigns,  especially  by 
existing  powerful  committees  and  political  clubs;  also  to  save 
clerical  work  and  expense  at  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary 
records. 

To  return  to  the  question  of  nomination  of  delegates  to  the 
State  Convention,  your  Committee  thinks  that  the  delegates  to 
the  State  Convention  should  be  at  least  seven  to  each  one  of  the 
one  hundred  and  fifty  assembly  districts  in  the  State,  making  a 
total  of  1,050,  with  a  like  number  of  alternates.  If  all  the  dele- 
gates and  alternates  attend  the  convention,  there  will  be  only 
2,100.  This  number  of  persons  can  be  conveniently  seated  in  any 
hall  which  is  ordinarily  used  for  the  purpose  of  a  State  Con- 
vention in  New  York.  The  object  is  to  draw  out  as  large  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  voters  in  the  party  as  possible.  The  designator 
can  go  to  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary  records,  and 
name  his  candidates  for  the  State  Convention  in  exactly  the  same 

12 


way  as  is  indicated  for  the  naming  of  a  candidate  for  any  office 
at  the  primary  election. 

In  designating  candidates  to  be  delegates  to  the  State  Con- 
vention, your  Committee  suggests  that  seven  designations  should 
be  required  for  every  candidate,  and  ten  allowed;  and  that  in 
the  primary  election,  the  seven  candidates  who  receive  the  largest 
number  of  votes  should  be  the  delegates,  and  the  seven  candidates 
receiving  in  their  order  the  next  largest  number  of  votes  should 
be  the  alternates. 

The  majority  of  your  Committee  has  also  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, after  prolonged  discussion,  that  delegates  to  the  State 
Convention,  selected  in  a  manner  so  representative  as  that  out- 
lined above  is  believed  to  be,  should  not  only  formulate  the 
principles  of  the  party  at  the  State  Convention  in  the  platform, 
but  should  also  nominate  all  the  candidates  for  State  offices  at 
the  same  convention.  Many  reasons  have  tended  to  bring  your 
Committee  to  this  conclusion.  Among  them  is  the  consideration 
that  it  would  be  undignified  for  the  candidate  for  Governor  and 
for  the  candidates  for  State  Comptroller  and  Attorney  General, 
and  the  other  State  offices,  and  especially  for  the  candidates  for 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  to  be  obliged  to  enter  into  desig- 
nating and  primary  election  campaigns,  to  say  nothing  about 
the  expense  of  such  campaigns,  which  certainly  could  not  be  well 
kept  within  the  limit  of  expenses  which  your  Committee  pro- 
poses shall  be  placed  upon  all  candidates,  and  which  will  be  here- 
inafter specified. 

There  has  been  a  wide  diversity  of  views  among  the  mem- 
bers of  your  Committee  as  to  the  necessity  for  the  creation  of 
other  party  positions  than  those  of  State  delegate;  but  in  con- 
sideration of  the  fact  that  some  committee  for  a  party  is  neces- 
sary to  fill  vacancies  which  may  occur  between  primary  day  and 
election  day,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  small  com- 
mittee from  each  assembly  district,  say  three,  to  fill  vacancies, 
and  to  manage  the  campaign,  may  be  provided  for;  such  com- 
mitteemen to  be  elected  in  the  same  manner  as  delegates  to  the 
State  Convention,  and  upon  the  same  number  of  designations  al- 
lowed and  required  as  are  the  designations  for  alderman.  As- 
sembly district  committeemen  will,  where  necessary,  fill  vacancies 
for   the   particular   subdivisions   and   officers   therein   involved, 

13 


aldermanic,  assembly,  senate,  municipal  court,  borough,  and 
county  and  city,  as  the  case  may  require.  Taken  together,  these 
committeemen  will  represent  the  party  in  and  for  the  purposes 
of  all  local  elections.  There  is  no  reason,  also,  why  the  assembly 
district  committeemen  should  not,  .all  taken  together,  form  the 
State  committee.  The  right  to  fill  vacancies,  however,  occurring 
in  the  State  ticket,  should  be  left  to  a  committee  especially  ap- 
pointed by  the  State  Convention. 

But  if  general  committees  of  political  parties,  meaning  com- 
mittees of  considerable  numbers  of  electors,  are  to  be  allowed, 
it  is  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  that  the  law  should  require 
such  committees  to  be  composed  of  a  sufficiently  large  number  to 
be  truly  representative,  and  to  give  those  persons  who  desire  it 
an  opportunity  to  be  politically  active,  and  should  not  be  less 
in  number  than  are  the  existing  district  and  county  committees. 

Your  Committee  is  aware  that  a  storm  of  objections  may  be 
made  to  this  system  of  nominating  candidates  and  persons  for 
party  positions,  on  the  ground  that  the  number  of  candidates  is 
likely  to  be  a  multitude.  In  the  opinion,  however,  of  Prof.  Mer- 
riam  this  has  not  proved  under  any  system  which  has  been 
adopted  for  direct  nominations  to  be  the  case.  There  has  seldom, 
according  to  Prof.  Merriam,  been  at  any  time  more  than  five 
candidates  nominated  for  any  office  or  party  position  under  any 
of  the  primary  laws  in  the  United  States,  and  from  two  to  three 
are  the  usual  number;  often  there  is  only  a  single  candidate 
nominated ;  but  your  Committee  has  borne  in  mind  the  theoretical 
possibilities  of  the  situation,  and  so  far  from  regretting  that  this 
scheme  might  produce  a  multitude  of  candidates,  your  Com- 
mittee rejoices  in  the  suggestion  that  such  might  prove  to  be  the 
case.  Your  Committee  thinks  that  the  stirring  up  of  new  political 
blood  in  such  a  way  would  make  the  experiment  well  worth  the 
while.  The  probability  is,  however,  that  the  nomination  of  any- 
thing more  than  a  reasonable  number  of  candidates  for  office  or 
party  position  would  never,  in  fact,  occur.  If,  however,  it  did, 
the  situation  could  be  met  in  this  way :  Let  the  law  provide  that 
no  designation  shall  be  eflFective  until  a  sufficient  sum  of  money 
to  be  fixed  by  the  custodian  of  primary  records  has  been  deposited 
with  him  by  the  designators  to  cover  the  expense  of  the  printing 
and  distribution  of  ballots  for  the  primary  election. 

14 


Your  Committee  has  considered  the  proposition  that  any  en- 
rolled voter  should  be  allowed,  without  indorsement  by  others,  to 
nominate  himself  or  any  other  qualified  person  for  an  office  or 
party  position  and  secure  the  printing  of  his  name  upon  the 
primary  ballot  by  depositing  with  the  custodian  of  primary  rec- 
ords such  sum  as  the  custodian  may  determine  to  be  the  reason- 
able expense  of  the  printing  and  distribution  of  the  necessary 
primary  ballots.  This  was  the  principal  feature  of  the  first 
primary  law  in  Kentucky,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  although 
the  expense  was  small  for  each  candidate,  this  law  did  not  result 
in  the  nomination  of  a  large  number  of  candidates. 

Your  Committee  favors  the  placing  of  candidates'  names 
upon  primary  ballots  by  a  limited  number  of  designations  re- 
quired and  allowed  as  outlined  above. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  theoretical  necessities  of  the  case,  we 
have  carefully  considered  whether  if  there  proved  to  be  a  multi- 
tude of  candidates  all  the  names  could  be  conveniently  printed 
in  any  form  upon  one  sheet  of  paper  folded  in  the  manner  of  the 
present  Australian  ballot,  as  is  provided  by  the  present  primary 
law,  and  as  is  proposed  in  the  Blauvelt  and  Sulzer  bills.  We  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  to  avoid  the  possible  mechanical  diffi- 
culties of  printing  a  multitude  of  names  upon  one  sheet  of  paper, 
at  least  in  trying  out  this  method  in  the  first  instance,  it  will  be 
well  to  have  printed  and  distributed  to  the  election  booths  a  sepa- 
rate ballot  for  each  candidate,  the  expense  to  be  paid  to  the  cus- 
todian of  primary  records  by  the  candidate  or  his  designators. 
We  propose  that  six  ballots  shall  be  printed  on  behalf  of  each 
candidate  for  each  enrolled  voter  of  the  party;  that  three  of 
these  ballots  shall  be  delivered  to  the  candidate  or  his  represen- 
tative, and  the  remaining  three  shall  be  sent  to  the  election  booths 
for  use  there  by  the  voters.  That  the  election  officers  shall  give 
every  party  voter  a  complete  set  of  ballots,  if  desired  by  him, 
but  the  voter  may  bring  with  him  such  officially  printed  ballots 
as  he  desires  to  vote,  take  them  into  the  booth  with  him,  insert 
them  in  an  official  envelope  to  be  provided  by  the  custodian  of 
primary  records,  and  furnished  to  the  election  officers,  and  vote 
for  all  candidates  by  sealing  their  ballots  in  the  envelope  and  de- 
positing it  in  the  ballot  box,  or  handing  it  to  the  election  officer 


15 


to  be  deposited  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  election  ballot  is 
now  deposited. 

The  objection  is  made  that  it  might  take  so  long  to  count  the 
ballots  as  to  make  this  form  of  election  impracticable.  We  do 
not,  however,  consider  this  an  insuperable  objection.  In  fact, 
we  think  in  practice  the  ballots  might  be  counted  this  way  more 
quickly  than  by  the  examination  of  hundreds  of  names  on  huge 
sheets  of  paper,  as  now  has  to  be  done  at  many  elections,  both 
general  and  primary.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  there  is  al- 
ways under  the  present  law  a  chance  of  names  being  written  in 
upon  all  our  ballots,  both  general  and  primary,  and  by  merely 
having  the  voter  whose  vote  has  been  bought  sign  his  name  or 
some  other  specified  name  upon  the  ballot,  the  delivery  of  the  vote 
is  proved  without  a  doubt.  By  our  system  of  officially  printed 
separate  ballots,  no  such  means  of  identifying  a  vote  is  possible, 
and  as  for  counting  the  vote,  it  must  be  remembered  that  this 
separate  ballot  system  is  the  one  which  prevailed  from  the  time  of 
the  existence  of  our  State  government  up  to  the  period  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Australian  ballot  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago,  and  that  fairly  honest  elections  were  possible  under  the 
old-fashioned  system,  when  the  people  were  sufficiently  aroused 
to  take  an  interest.  We  think,  moreover,  that  a  differentiation 
of  the  method  of  voting  in  the  primary  election  will  serve  to 
create  in  the  mind  of  the  voter  an  interest  in  all  primary  elec- 
tions, which  most  voters  now  take  only  in  a  general  election. 

The  candidate  at  the  primary  election  who  has  a  plurality  of 
votes  will  be  the  nominee  of  the  party  for  the  office  for  which 
the  candidate  is  named. 

We  have  not  proposed  to  change  anything  in  the  law  for 
the  general  election  or  for  election  officers,  because  by  this  sys- 
tem no  change  will  be  necessary.  We  keep  in  mind  that  as  cum- 
bersome as  may  be  the  mechanics  of  our  general  election,  the 
people  and  the  election  officers  have  become  accustomed  to  the 
method,  they  understand  the  system,  and  it  is  advisable  to  try 
but  one  new  thing  at  a  time.  The  one  new  thing  demanded 
at  this  time  is  an  effective  means  of  securing  direct  political 
control  by  the  voters  of  a  party  themselves,  and  taking  the  con- 
trol out  of  the  hands  of  what  are  virtually  self-constituted  and 
self-perpetuated  political  committees,  whose  powers  under  the 

i6 


unit  rule  are  virtually  all  surrendered  in  the  case  of  every  com- 
mittee to  a  committee  of  one  for  the  particular  subdivision  in 
which  such  committee  may  act,  and  in  succession  by  applications 
of  the  unit  rule,  these  committees  surrender  their  powers  to  an- 
other committee  of  one,  and  so  on,  till  you  find  the  whole  political 
control  centered  in  some  one  person,  who  very  properly  has  come 
to  be  known  as  the  "Boss."  Your  Committee  is  of  the  opinion 
that  it  will  be  well  to  provide  against  any  caucus  or  concerted  ac- 
tion of  any  kind  by  the  members  of  any  political  committee  in  the 
designation  of  candidates  at  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary 
reocrds ;  and  to  forbid  such  concerted  action  under  proper  penal- 
ties, the  most  effective  of  which  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee 
will  be  the  voiding  of  the  nomination  upon  application  of  any 
voter  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  a  proper  summary  proceeding. 

Limitation  of  Expenses 

Your  Committee  recommends  that  the  expenses  of  candidates 
in  securing  designation,  nomination  and  election  to  any  office  be 
limited  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  salary  of  that  office  for  the  first 
year,  or  where  there  is  no  salary,  to  an  amount  which  will  be 
approximately  equal  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  fees  or  emoluments 
of  the  office  for  the  first  year,  and  in  cases  where  the  fees  or 
emoluments  can  not  be  ascertained,  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars. 

A  salary  paid  a  public  officer  is  for  his  sustenance,  to  en- 
able him  to  take  his  time  from  private  business  and  devote  it  to 
the  service  of  the  public.  No  public  officer  should  be  allowed 
to  spend  more  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  income  from  his  office  to 
secure  the  office.  Ten  per  cent  is  fixed  upon  by  your  Committee 
because  it  is  very  generally  the  amount  which  the  business  com- 
munity reckons  as  proper  to  be  expended  in  securing  that  kind  of 
business  in  which  it  may  be  engaged.  Ten  per  cent,  instead  of 
being  a  small  amount  to  which  to  limit  election  expenses,  is,  in 
the  judgment  of  your  Committee,  a  liberal  one.  If  the  poor  are 
to  have  equal  chances  with  the  well-to-do  and  the  rich  in  political 
management  it  is  absoluely  necessary  that  the  expense  of  secur- 
ing office  shall  be  limited  to  such  amount  as  even  a  poor  man 
and  his  friends  may  be  able  to  raise  to  pay  the  expense  of  his 
designation,  nomination  and  election. 

»7 


The  statute  must  forbid  the  expenditure  of  more  than  ten 
per  cent,  not  only  by  the  candidate,  but  by  any  person  for  or  on 
account  of  the  candidate,  or  by  any  person  whomsoever  to  secure 
the  designation,  nomination  or  election  of  the  candidate.  Other- 
wise, unlimited  amounts  might  be  spent  by  near  relatives  and 
close  friends. 

A  New  and  Effectual  Means  for  Preventing  Corrupt 
Practices 

Penatlies  for  the  expenditure  of  more  than  the  limited 
amount  are  to  a  certain  extent  provided  for  by  the  existing 
law.  These  penal  provisions  are,  however,  seldom  put  into 
effect,  no  matter  how  gross  the  violation  of  the  statute  may 
have  been.  But  there  is  one  provision  which  has  not  been 
made,  which  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  will  be  effectual. 
That  is,  vacation  of  the  certificate  of  election  by  an  action  in  the 
nature  of  quo  warranto,  brought  at  the  suit  of  any  voter  or  of 
the  Attorney  General,  and  which  action  must  be  brought  by 
the  Attorney  General  upon  the  petition  of  a  certain  number  of 
voters,  say  one  per  cent  (which  petition  should  be  signed  only 
at  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary  records),  setting  forth 
facts  which  prima  facie  call  for  a  judgment  vacating  the  certifi- 
cate. It  is  as  necessary  to  provide  for  the  vacation  of  offices  se- 
cured by  the  use  of  money  on  the  petition  of  poor  voters  as  it  is 
upon  the  petition  of  rich  voters,  for  otherwise  the  rich  voter 
would  have  an  undue  advantage  in  his  ability  to  pay  for  legal 
proceedings. 

When  a  certificate  of  election  is  vacated,  the  candidate  for 
the  office  having  the  next  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  entitled 
to  the  certificate. 

Economy  of  Time  and  of  Effort  on  the  Part  of  Voters 

Keeping  in  mind  the  economy  of  time  and  of  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  voter,  which  should  always  be  our  object  in  arrange- 
ments for  him  to  take  part  in  political  management,  your  Com- 
mittee thinks  that  the  seventh  Tuesday  before  election  day,  which 
ordinarily  falls  about  the  middle  of  September,  and  is  fixed  upon 

i8 


by  our  statute  for  primary  day,  should  also  be  made  a  registra- 
tion day  for  the  voters.  For  the  making  of  designations  in  the 
books  of  the  custodian  of  primary  records  a  considerable  time 
should  be  allowed,  say  from  the  first  Tuesday  of  July  to  the  first 
Tuesday  of  August.  This  will  allow  the  custodian  sufficient  time 
in  which  to  prepare  the  ballots  for  the  primary  election  and  for 
judicial  proceedings  in  which  to  determine  the  validity  of  the 
designations. 


Indkpe:nde;nt  Nominations 


y 


If  the  parties  already  constituted  fail  to  provide  satisfactory 
platforms  or  candidates  for  the  voters  as  a  whole,  the  right  to 
make  independent  nominations  should  be  preserved  in  at  least 
as  full  and  free  a  form  as  they  are  by  the  existing  law. 

Nominations  by  independents  may  be  made  at  the  office  of 
the  custodian  of  primary  records  in  the  same  manner  that  desig- 
nations are  made  for  positions  on  party  tickets. 

The  canvassing  for  names  to  petitions  for  independent 
nominations  is  subject  to  the  same  objections  as  the  can- 
vassing for  names  on  party  designating  petitions.  Until 
a  new  party  is  formed,  independent  nominators  will  not 
hold  primary  elections.  The  names  of  independent  candi- 
dates shall  be  printed  upon  the  official  ballot  at  the  gen- 
eral election  in  case  they  have  been  nominated  by  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  persons  who  have  not  made  nominations  of  any 
other  candidate  for  the  position  since  the  last  general  election. 
Their  qualifications  can  be  established  by  an  oath  printed  on  the 
first  page  of  the  book  for  independent  nominations,  and  by  exam- 
ination by  the  custodian  of  primary  records  or  his  deputy.  It  is 
suggested  that  to  entitle  an  independent  candidate  to  have  his 
name  printed  on  the  general  election  ballot  nominations  equivalent 
to  one  per  cent  of  the  total  vote  cast  for  that  office  in  the  particular 
subdivision  at  the  previous  general  election  will  be  sufficient.  The 
same  penalties  as  to  payment  of  valuable  considerations,  prom- 
ises of  reward  by  way  of  securing  appointment  to  positions,  or 
payment  of  travelling  fees  to  the  nominator  to  go  to  the  office 
of  the  custodian  of  primary  records  shall  hold  in  the  case  of  in- 
dependent candidates  as  in  the  case  of  party  candidates.     In 

19 


either  case  the  striking  of  the  name  from  the  ballot  by  applica- 
tion of  any  voter  to  the  Supreme  Court,  or  the  vacation  of 
the  election  certificate,  will  be  a  powerful  and  sufficient 
deterrent  against  prohibited  practices.  Where  an  election  cer- 
tificate is  vacated,  the  candidate  receiving  the  next  highest  num- 
ber of  votes  for  the  office  shall  be  entitled  to  the  certificate. 

Party  Positions 

Your  Committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  schemes  for  simplifi- 
cation in  political  management  which  propose  to  reduce  the 
membership  of  committees  and  the  number  of  delegates  to  con- 
ventions will  defeat  their  own  ends,  by  preventing  that  large  and 
representative  participation  of  the  voters  in  such  committees  and 
conventions  as  is  necessary  to  keep  the  control  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  few  who  may  secure  it.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  limit  the  representation  in  State  conventions  to 
less  than  seven  members  for  an  assembly  district  with  alternates, 
or  to  limit  the  representation  of  a  party  committee  in  an  assem- 
bly district  to  less  than  seven  members  for  an  election  district. 
Keeping  in  mind  conditions  in  the  City  of  New  York,  we  think 
that  there  are  few  election  districts  in  which  there  are  not  at 
least  seven  men  in  every  party  who  would  be  glad  to  take  part 
in  political  management  if  they  were  given  an  opportunity.  We 
can  obviate  the  difficulty  of  voting  for  so  many  names  for  party 
positions  at  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  primary  records  by  re- 
quiring, for  instance,  that  all  names  of  the  designator's  delegates 
for  a  party  committee  shall  be  contained  in  one  printed  or  type- 
written list  signed  by  the  designator,  and  filed  as  a  part  of  his 
designations  made  on  the  designating  register.  In  the  same  man- 
ner, where  there  is  a  large  number  of  names  of  candidates  for 
party  positions  on  committees,  each  group  of  designations  can  be 
printed  by  the  custodian  of  primary  records  upon  a  single  sheet 
of  paper,  about  the  size  of  the  ordinary  hand  blotter.  Such  names, 
of  course,  when  printed  by  the  custodian  for  the  primary  elec- 
tion will  be  only  the  names  of  those  candidates  for  party  posi- 
tions who  have  received  a  sufficient  number  of  designations  to 
entitle  their  names  to  be  placed  upon  the  primary  ballot. 

Provisions  must  be  made  making  void  the  ballots  of  any 

20 


voter  at  a  primary  election  which  show  any  mark  or  fold  or  other 
irregularity  which  might  indicate  who  the  voter  was  when  the 
envelope  is  opened  by  the  election  officers.  These  are  matters  of 
detail  which  can  be  supplied  by  the  draftsman  of  the  bill.  Of 
course,  such  detail  presents  difficulties,  but  if  our  theory  be  cor- 
rect, as  we  believe  it  is,  the  details  can  be  worked  out  in  prac- 
tice. 

The  Plan  Easily  Applied  to  Initiative  and  Recall 

In  those  States  in  which  legislation  may  be  directly  instituted 
or  passed  by  the  people  themselves  without  the  intervention  of 
legislatures,  and  in  those  States  where  officials  after  election  may 
be  recalled  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  the  universal  method  of  pro- 
cedure is  the  circulation  of  petitions  requiring  a  large  number 
of  signatures  properly  certified.  In  these  ingenious  arrangements 
for  the  prevention  of  miscarriages  in  popular  governments,  gross 
abuses  have  already  sprung  up,  although  the  systems  have  been 
in  use  but  a  short  time  in  any  of  the  States.  The  principal  abuse 
is  in  the  circulation  of  petitions  to  bring  about  the  recall  of  pub- 
lic officers.  The  obtaining  of  names  to  such  petitions  has  been 
commercialized.  In  some  of  the  States  companies  for  the  cir- 
culation of  recall  petitions  have  been  formed,  and  they  will  under- 
take, upon  the  payment  of  a  certain  amount  of  money,  to  se- 
cure sufficient  signatures  to  a  petition  to  bring  about  the  recall,  or 
an  election  for  the  recall,  of  any  public  officer,  without  regard  to 
the  merits  of  his  administration.  By  the  plan  which  we  propose 
such  abuse  of  the  initiative  or  the  recall,  if  at  any  time  they  shall 
come  to  be  adopted  in  this  State,  will  be  impossible.  Unless  the 
people  have  real  grievances,  it  will  never  be  possible  to  induce 
even  a  small  number  of  voters  to  go  to  the  central  booking  office 
and  register  themselves  in  favor  of  a  petition  there  filed  for  the 
recall  of  a  public  official. 


In  Conclusion 


4 


Your  Committee  believes  it  has  presented  a  scheme  for  a 
primary  law,  which,  if  put  into  effect,  will  interest  the  voters  gen- 
erally in  politics  and  will  revolutionize  political  management; 


21 


will  give  the  people  what  they  have  never  had,  the  control  of  their 
own  political  affairs,  and  will  result  in  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  statement  and  application  of  political  principles,  in  the  se- 
curing of  public  offices  by  the  candidates,  and  in  the  conducting 
of  the  business  of  such  offices  when  secured. 

CLARENCE  C.  FERRIS, 

Chairman, 
JAMES  S.  McDONOGH, 

Secretary, 
GEO.  P.  H.  McVAY, 

FRANK  E.  WILLIAMSON, 

Committee. 


The:  Minority  Report 

Mr.  Henry  B.  Hammond  joins  in  and  approves  of  the 
majority  report,  with  the  single  exception  that  he  believes  that 
the  provision  for  direct  primaries  should  be  applied  to  State 
offices.  He  does  not  disapprove  of  the  continuation  of  the  State 
Convention  for  the  purpose  of  framing  the  party  platform,  or  for 
any  other  inter-party  matters,  but  he  believes  that  it  should  have 
no  power  to  make  nominations. 


22 


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